Posts Tagged ‘youth drop-in center’
Last week, we sent out an email letting our supporters know that we were running extremely low on food and socks. Within a week, our pantry and sock crates were overflowing!
This picture is the food from just one church, Eastern Hills Community Church in Aurora, who donated.
In addition to Eastern Hills, we would also like to thank Englewood Fist Assembly of God, Grace Community Church, Boulder County Community Church, Kevin and Carol Bohren, and all the individuals who gave so generously to help meet our needs to help the homeless and at-risk youth of Denver!
Hosted by: Josette Holte and Andrea Barnes
What: Unlimited wine tasting and hors d’ oeuvres, novices welcome – Just bring your enthusiasm! There will also be prize giveaways and a silent and live auction.
Prizes and auction items include:
Sports Authority Gear
Monkey Bizness Party
Mountain house getaway
Where: Water2 Wine
9608 East Arapahoe Road
Greenwood Village, Colorado 80112
Website: www.water2wine.us
When: Saturday, May 12, 7:00-9:00 pm
Cost: $20* per ticket in advance (more at the door; space is limited). Your ticket covers: Entrance fee, wine tasting, and a raffle entry.
*5 is tax deductible; receipts will be given at the door.
For more information or to reserve your ticket, please contact Josette Holte (josetteholte@yahoo.com) or Andrea Barnes (andibarnes11@yahoo.com).
When I first got involved with Sox Place almost 10 years ago, our kids were primarily of one sub-culture, the gutter punk. They were anti-government, anti- law, anti-cop, anti-authority, and anti-pretty much everything that got in their way of drinking, fighting, and having “fun.” We still have some of those kids, but now, the kids that come to Sox Place are so diverse that we see many different attitudes and mindsets. They are from different backgrounds and ethnicity.
One major change that I have seen that is positive is that our kids don’t really consider it cool to be living on the streets anymore. In previous years, you got most of your streets status by how long you had been homeless. Now many of our kids want desperately to break the cycle of homelessness, joblessness, and the street lifestyle they are living.
This can be quite a daunting task for many of our youth. So many of them have never been taught the basic life skills that you and I can take for granted. No one was around to teach them how to get up and be on time, how to accept direction and correction from authority, how to look presentable for a job interview, and how to manage the little money they get. Even basic personal hygiene that we were taught as children is foreign to them. It’s easy to write many of these things off as common sense, but when the example your parents give you is violence, welfare abuse, food stamps, taking advantage of the government disability program, and drug and alcohol abuse, common sense becomes not so common for them.
Many of our kids are realizing this is no way to live, and that is very encouraging for me. Therefore, we are adapting our services to include the “Streets2Stability” program. This program is where we teach these basic lessons through a three month internship. We are also helping in the job hunting process, giving bus fare and clothes that are appropriate for interviews.
One of the critical ways you can help these kids who are trying very hard to get off the streets is to let us know if you have any job leads; that would be invaluable. No matter what kind of work it is, we can try and fit one of our youths for the job. We also have a 5280 program where you can commit to donating $52.80 a month to help pay for more “Streets2Stability” participants and other services. Sometimes it only takes one person willing to take a risk for these kids for them to rise to the occasion, and break the cycle.
These are exciting times here at Sox Place and hold a lot of hope for our kids, as it is now they who want to make a change, not everyone around them wanting to change them.
-Jordan
At any point in time, there are over 1,100 homeless youth (ages 14-24) and over 5,000 homeless students (children attending school, but considered homeless) in the Denver-Metro area.* Denver is home to thousands of gang members, countless drug and alcohol addicts, victims of human trafficking, and hundreds of other at-risk youth.
Sox Place is reaching 60-80 of these youth each day.
Each Tuesday through Saturday, we provide a hot meal, mentoring, resources and referrals, clothing, blankets, internet access, recreation, employment assistance, housing assistance, and on-the-job training. Sox Place is a safe environment that is like family – a family that loves and accepts street youth for who they are and where they are in life. The above services will give the street youth the opportunity to end the vicious cycle of hopelessness that they face on a regular basis.
Denver Colorado is known as the “Mile High City” (5,280 feet = 1 mile), and we are asking you to come alongside Sox Place by giving $52.80 a month in support. Without partners like you, we cannot continue or expand our mission.
Please consider supporting Sox Place. You have the power to change the lives of those who need it most.
Watch our website for more information and videos on 5280 in the coming days!
Want to donate now? Here’s a couple options:
- It is quick and easy to contact your bank and set up an automatic donation every month. All you need is your bank info our address! (PO Box 544, Denver CO 80201)
- You can send in monthly checks.
- We are in the process of setting up a PayPal account specifically for 5280. Keep watching our website for that availability. Until then, you can always donate $52.80 through our current PayPal account by clicking below.
*Source: 2009 Point it Time Survey by Metro Denver Homeless Initiative and Colorado Department of Human Services
SOX PLACE is for you..the gutter punk, the train rider, the homeless youth, you who just need something to eat, you who just need a safe place to crash. Whether you’ve been on the street for one day or one decade, SOX PLACE IS FOR YOU!
We are open:
Tuesday-Friday: noon-4pm
Saturday: noon- 2pm
Imagine being 16, 17, or 18 and living on the streets. CNN catches up with some of Denver’s homeless youth to find out what it’s like. It is a story of survival and hope. Most of them have found a home through Sox Place. Even though they face more struggles than most, they have not let their dreams die.
Compete for the Street supports Sox Place by spreading awareness, and developing fundraising opportunities through, endurance sporting events. Shawn-the founder of Compete for the Street–catches up with Josh to get the full story on the happenings at Sox Place.
Find out more about Compete for the Street http://www.facebook.com/competeforthestreet
After living in Manhattan, seeing a homeless person becomes as normal as hailing a taxicab or going to a Yankees game. While most of us walk by, going about our daily routine, or snarl and roll our eyes at what we presume is the drug addict or alcoholic, have you ever actually stopped and asked them what their story is? That is exactly what Doyle Robinson does everyday in Denver, Colorado.
Read the Article
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We are open:
Tuesday-Friday: noon-4pm
Saturday: noon- 2pm
